The world’s first technology for the mass production of high-quality yet low-cost single wall carbon nanotubes is now entering the Japanese market – Japan is in fact the birthplace of carbon nanotubes, where they were first discovered more than 25 years ago by Sumio Iijima. The longstanding partnership between Kusumoto Chemicals, one of the leading Japanese specialty chemicals companies, and OCSiAl Group, the world leader in single wall carbon nanotube production, has now evolved into an exclusive contract for exploiting OCSiAl technology and know-how to manufacture and market of TUBALL-based suspensions, masterbatches and a line of pre-dispersed concentrates TUBALL MATRIX in Japan.
The dominance
of OCSiAl’s TUBALL single wall carbon nanotubes is related
to their exceptional properties, such as superior conductivity to weight ratio
and high temperature resistance, strength and length-to-diameter ratio (>2500). As little as 0.01% of TUBALL enables
manufacturers to use less raw material while producing more high-performance
end products.
“OCSiAl
works closely with partners all around the world, and we are hugely excited to
have such an influential partner in Japan. The volume of TUBALL purchased by Kusumoto
Chemicals is sufficient for organising the production line and meeting the
market needs for these advanced additives. The company has been granted an exclusive
license to exploit OCSiAl’s technology and know-how to produce and market in
Japan the expanded line of suspensions, masterbatches and pre-dispersed concentrates
TUBALL MATRIX”, noted Grigory Gurevich, OCSiAl Senior Vice President and CEO of
OCSiAl Hong Kong.
Kusumoto Chemicals now also enjoys an exclusive
right to produce and commercialise the TUBALL MATRIX line of concentrates, a
novel product that has no analogue yet. Pioneering technology enables these
concentrates to provide materials with conductivity and to enhance their
mechanical properties without any negative influence on their colour or
rheological properties. TUBALL MATRIX concentrates will contribute to the Japanese
automotive, petrochemical, oil and gas, healthcare, pharmaceutical and
electronics industries, blazing a trail for adding significant value to a vast
number of products.
The Japanese chemical industry is the third largest in the world and it accounts for 14% of all Japanese manufacturing output. The strong points of the chemical industry in Japan are innovation and quality. “Kusumoto Chemicals realises that modern civilisation is now at the stage where we need to advance existing materials significantly. The exceptional properties of single wall carbon nanotubes have attracted great interest from manufacturers who want to improve their properties. However, the availability of predispersed off-the-shelf TUBALL-based concentrates now gives us the opportunity to genuinely boost their industrial application”, commented Mr Kai-San, Kusumoto Chemicals Corporate Officer.